Surrey opening batsmen Scott Newman is looking to prove his critics wrong this season by swapping a winter holiday in Tobago with a tour Down Under in 2006-07.

The 26-year-old Epsom man spent the close season sunning himself in the Caribbean but, after an inconsistent campaign that ended in relegation, he is ready to stake a claim for a Test place.

England head to Australia in November to take on the old foe for the Ashes and Newman is keen to make an impression as Surrey look for a return to the Liverpool Victoria Championship Division One.

"I've spent the winter with my family thinking about my game and where I can improve, and this year I want to change people's perceptions of me," he told the Comet last week.

"People look at how I am and think I don't take the game seriously but that could not be further from the truth.

"I have looked at my life as a cricketer on and off the field and it is time for me to step up my game a level.

"I started well last year and it is up to me to be more consistent. Hopefully, I may even get picked for a winter tour if I can catch the selectors' eyes."

Newman scored 1,230 runs in the County Championship last year including four centuries at an average of 49.

But most came in the first half of the season, as Surrey fought an unsuccessful battle against relegation.

The left hander touted as a future international while the runs were flowing is the first to admit his form tailed off just as quickly as his hopes of a full England call-up last season.

But he is determined to put that right by adding to his England A honours of 2004 and helping revive Surrey's fortunes on the field to match their success off it.

The Oval-based club enjoyed a £6million increase in turnover in 2005 including a pre-tax profit of £482,000 and Newman believes it is time for the players to start justifying the £1.5million the club sets aside for senior cricket.

"As a professional cricketer, you get to see all walks of life and, after our club trip to India, it has made me appreciate what we have as players," he said.

"The club is doing well in all other departments and, on the cricket side of things, we are falling behind.

"We want to be in the first division and winning trophies.

"It will be hard to bounce back, because we go to at grounds such as Worcestershire and Derbyshire, where we haven't played for a few seasons, but we just have to get on with it."

Chief executive Paul Sheldon echoed that view, admitting a side languishing in division two for more than a year or two would inevitably impact on the club's finances.

"The success of the club as a whole is down to the performance of our cricketers," he said.

"Twenty20 is bringing a lot of new people into the game and we have a squad capable of winning that competition, which will be key to the development of Surrey cricket.

"We have an £11million loan to service and we must be successful to do that."